Band

Dear BPS community,

What a fantastic Term 2 of music making at BPS! All music students have been working solidly to improve their skills and musicianship. Our school bands and ensembles have taken off and are soaring towards great heights in 2023! Term two has seen all of our musical groups perform at different events throughout.

The recent Mid-Year Soiree was a celebration of the amazing music program we have at BPS.  All groups performed with great focus and enthusiasm. I’ve had much positive parent/teacher/student feedback since the evening. What a buzz!  WELL DONE! As music teachers, conductors and musical directors, this is the moment that our skilful instruction is realised in the pinnacle of what we aim for as musicians/educators, live performance. It was a true team effort, and I sincerely thank everyone for their contribution. It made me realise again why BPS has the best Primary School music program in the state of Victoria. We have an incredible team of musical professionals and support staff, amazing students and an extremely supportive parent community. A big shout out to Lisa Shacklock for her tireless commitment and passion towards the program, and to Jo Seton and the Friends of the Band for the amazing raffle and fundraising efforts on the evening.

I hope many of you took the opportunity to come along to ‘Open Rehearsal Week’ earlier in the term. It was a wonderful experience for all involved, and a terrific opportunity for the community to see how each group runs.

Term two also saw performances at the foundation info session, open night, a lunchtime performance and several assembly performances.

Band & Ensemble Rehearsals

I frequently get asked, ‘Is Band / Ensemble on tomorrow / this week?’

The short answer to this is YES. 

Bands and Ensembles run every week of term unless the teacher is sick/absent, and no replacement teacher is available or there is an unforeseen school event that directly clashes with rehearsals. In the event that band is cancelled for any of these reasons, an email will be sent out to parents to let them know. Also, arrival time for all rehearsals is 7.50am. Please aim to be there as close to 7:50am as possible.

Compass Calendar

A reminder that all rehearsals and performance dates and times are displayed in the Compass calendar.  If you're not sure when your child's band / ensemble is next performing, type the band name in the search bar and all information regarding that band will be there!

Farewell

On a sad note, our Percussion teacher Laura is leaving at the end of term 2 to take up a position at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar. I thank her for what she brought to the team and wish her all the best in her future musical endeavours. We are currently interviewing prospective Percussion teachers and will have a new teacher for the commencement of term 3.

Beginner Guitar Ensemble - Assembly performance

And lastly, the Beginner Guitar Ensemble will be playing at assembly this Friday 16 June . We look forward to hearing the next performance from this promising young group.

Have a safe and restful break.

Yours Musically,

Alwaynne Strentz

BPS Instrumental Music Staff 2023 

• Alwaynne Strentz - Band Coordinator, Acoustic and Bass Guitar teacher, Training Band Conductor, Advanced Guitar Ensemble Director
• Ken Macdonald - Trumpet and Trombone teacher, Concert and Symphonic Band Conductor
• Jake Underwood - Acoustic Guitar teacher, Beginner Guitar Ensemble Director
• Adrienne Garneau - Clarinet and Saxophone teacher
• Jirene Beh – Flute teacher
• Catherine Bates - Clarinet and Saxophone teacher
• Percussion teacher - TBA